DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1082#0037
POMPEIANA. S
It is surprising, that with such a testi-
mony of former devastation as the city of
Pompeii before their eyes, and the frequent
recurrence of similar ravages, the people of
the country should have ventured to erect
two large and populous villages three miles
nearer the crater of Vesuvius, especially as
they invariably evince the greatest alarm
when the mountain exhibits any symptoms
of an approaching eruption.
An idea has prevailed, that the sea once
washed the walls of Pompeii; but though
it is said that rings have been found, to
which it has been supposed vessels were
anciently moored, close to the ruins; yet
there seems great reason to believe, that
the trade of Pompeii was carried on, as
Strabo intimates, by means of the river
Sarnus, which yet runs a clear, deep, and
navigable river, approaching within a quar-
ter of a mile of the site of the city; the
situation rendering it a convenient empo-
rium for the commerce of the cities of Nola,
b 2
It is surprising, that with such a testi-
mony of former devastation as the city of
Pompeii before their eyes, and the frequent
recurrence of similar ravages, the people of
the country should have ventured to erect
two large and populous villages three miles
nearer the crater of Vesuvius, especially as
they invariably evince the greatest alarm
when the mountain exhibits any symptoms
of an approaching eruption.
An idea has prevailed, that the sea once
washed the walls of Pompeii; but though
it is said that rings have been found, to
which it has been supposed vessels were
anciently moored, close to the ruins; yet
there seems great reason to believe, that
the trade of Pompeii was carried on, as
Strabo intimates, by means of the river
Sarnus, which yet runs a clear, deep, and
navigable river, approaching within a quar-
ter of a mile of the site of the city; the
situation rendering it a convenient empo-
rium for the commerce of the cities of Nola,
b 2